Shaarabafi Kashan, an old art but on the verge of oblivion

Wool weaving is an ancient art in Kashan, which has long been considered as one of the professions and handicrafts, but these days the wheel of this industry turns slowly and the art of wool weaving is on the verge of being forgotten. Wool weaving is a manual art that is more than It was common in Kashan 2,000 years ago, but it was forgotten in recent decades until it was revived by the efforts of the Kashan Handicrafts, Tourism and Cultural Heritage Department and a number of young people were attracted to this art.

Human or animal hair is called ‘sha’ar’ and in the term of weaving, sha’ar is a type of cloth that is woven with silk thread and with a ‘four-way loom’, and most of its products are belts and headbands, Kurdish clothes, towels and women’s scarves, chadorshab. , it is bagcheh and manto.

Arts and crafts are a reminder and a symbol of the history, ethnicity and identity of each nation and region, the type, raw materials, use and method of making it are closely related to the lifestyle of the people of that region, the durability of these arts is related to two principles. The most important of which is the existence of artists and then demand and consumption by the people.

Shaarafi is made in two simple ways and stripes (striped), simple shaar is mostly in purple, crimson, black, yellow and green colors for women’s clothes and bar shaar in black and white, 2 meters wide and 1.5 meters long. They weave for men’s clothes.

Handicrafts are especially important in establishing the identity of the society

On Monday, the Deputy Director of Handicrafts Department of Kashan Cultural Heritage, Handicrafts and Tourism Department told IRNA reporter: Arts and crafts are of special importance in the stabilization and permanence of the community’s identity, the necessary planning to support handicrafts is on the agenda of this department.

Mohammad Binwa added: All handicrafts fields are important and valuable, and in their place, we should try to protect, maintain and support them, and the artists of the weaving sector, especially the old artists, have great value and we should support them.

He said: “Handicrafts are lasting and original arts left from the past, and the art of shaarafi is one of the traditional arts of Kashan, whose artists are still active in this city.”

25 wool weaving workshops are active in Kashan

The deputy of the handicraft department of the Cultural Heritage, Handicrafts and Tourism Department of Kashan further stated: 40 years ago, more than 300 shaara weaving workshops were active in Kashan, but today, due to the production of cheap and glamorous machine-made fabrics, this art has declined. So that we have only 25 active wool weaving workshops in Kashan.

Binova said: The peak activity of Kashan city weaving workshops is related to the Safavid era, but these workshops were eventually closed at the end of the Qajar period due to the cheapness of machine-made textiles and the neglect of the past regarding the importance of strengthening hand-woven textiles.

Handwoven silk fabrics have anti-cancer properties

He added: Silk thread and silk fabrics are world famous for their elegance, softness and softness, and today it has been proven that handwoven silk fabrics, like silk fabrics produced in Shaara weaving workshops, have anti-cancer properties.

The deputy of handicrafts department of the Cultural Heritage, Handicrafts and Tourism Department of Kashan further stated: Currently, the production of the wool weaving workshops of Mr. Khorasani, Mohtashmi, Manochehri and Mrs. Khorrami is tourist-friendly, but the products produced by other wool-weavers in Kashan are not tourist-friendly. And it is only used for Kurdish clothes.

60 years ago, 1000 shaarafi workshops were active in Kashan

A professor of wool weaving in Kashan also told IRNA reporter: The art of wool weaving has a history of more than 2,000 years in Kashan, and until 60 years ago, a thousand wool weaving workshops were active in Kashan, but today, due to the cheapness and glamor of the machine products, this art is being forgotten. Is.

Professor Mahmoud Khorasanizadeh added: In the past, most of the occupations of Kashan people were weaving, zari weaving, and velvet weaving, and it is still possible to find various weaving tools such as Qalanbek, Suk, Varzaneh, Khark, Daftin, and Masoureh in the dusty warehouses of old houses in Kashan. because once upon a time every house was a wool-weaving workshop.

He stated: The production of the active weaving workshops in Kashan is mostly shawls and scarves, headscarves and belts for Kurdish clothing, skirts and coats, and our sales market is mostly in spring and Nowruz.

This professor of wool weaving in Kashan said: If a person works well in a wool weaving workshop, he can earn about 400 thousand tomans every day.

In July 2017, Kashan was selected as the national textile city by the panel of judges in the National Council of Handicrafts.

Kashan city with a population of more than 364 thousand people is located at a distance of nearly 200 km north of Isfahan.